Toby Perkins MP

On Friday September 24^th, Brimington Bowls Club was the venue for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, an event raising money for Macmillan Support. Labour Member of Parliament, Toby Perkins, joined dozens of local residents, the Mayor of Chesterfield and crown green bowlers who all donated money while enjoying cups of tea, hot and cold food, and a raffle. The event finale saw the climax of the daylong bowls tournament on the perfectly prepared Bowling Green.

The event has been going for over two decades in Brimington. Pamela Wright, secretary of Brimington Bowls Club, raised a total of £17 in its inaugural year. Last year, over £1500 was raised and donated to Macmillan Support to help those affected by cancer in the local area. Mr. Perkins was given a tour of the Bowls Club facilities at which he is attending the annual presentation evening next month, including the clubhouse with its collection of memorabilia. He was then shown to the community room in which the teas and coffees were being served by the dozen and visited stalls selling everything from paintings to fresh fruit and vegetables.

Mr. Perkins said:-

I would like to congratulate Pamela and the team for organizing such a fantastic event. The bowling competition, the cups of tea and good food raise huge sums of money for such a worthwhile cause. The event attracted people of all ages who came to have a good time and support Macmillan, despite the cold weather. Unfortunately my bowls is not up to the standard of those taking part but I hope to find time to practice in time for next year’s event!”

On Tuesday 19th October at 1pm, Derbyshire County Council will decide at a public meeting whether to allow Cyclamax to build a hazardous waste incinerator on Dunston Road. Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, Toby Perkins, has called on Chesterfield politicians of all parties to unite to help defeat plans to burn thousands of tonnes of hazardous, commercial waste near the heart of Chesterfield.

Mr. Perkins will be joining the campaign group Chesterfield Against Incineration in speaking at the showdown meeting at County Hall, Matlock. The campaign has been fought over three years after the plans were announced to build the incinerator. Serious concerns have been raised about the safety issues related to burning potentially harmful waste in a highly populated area within reach of schools and thousands of homes. The MP has stressed the importance of putting party politics to one side to fight for the good of the entire Chesterfield community.

Mr. Perkins said:-

“After so much hard work and dedication from all involved, the big day is here. The plans could damage health and hit jobs with local firms threatening to leave the area if the plans are approved. I am calling on everyone in Chesterfield to unite behind the same cause. I don’t know of a single Labour, Tory or Lib Dem councilor in Chesterfield and surrounding areas who is in favour of the Dunston Incinerator plans. It is vitally important that they realize now is the time to act to defeat this blueprint. It will require the broad support of everyone if we are to be successful in standing up for the people of Chesterfield”.

Scorn and alarm was too much the Labour reaction to the old ‘core’ vote and the jobs those voters now do, from sales to SMEs. The party won’t succeed again until it properly understand them and problems like low wages and job insecurity.

The early months of the ConDem government has demonstrated their obsession with an ideological remodelling of Britain that favours a small state and a reduced role for public servants. Understandably, much of the attention of Labour’s campaigning will be around the fight for both the principle and the future shape of our public services.

However, this vital battle mustn’t prevent the Labour party re-evaluating its strategy towards business and the private sector (particularly SME) workers. In the myriad articles about how we can reconnect with our ‘core’ there has been too little discussion about what our core vote is or should be.

With some notable exceptions the days where working class people worked in huge factories or nationalised industries are gone. People who have considered themselves to be ‘core’ Labour voters are now as likely to work down the pub, or in the bookies; to serve us at Tesco’s or Matalan; to be encouraging us to change electricity suppliers at our doorstep or driving taxis; they make cappuccino’s and answer the phone in huge call centres.

Too often Labour appeared to view these people and their careers with a mixture of scorn and alarm. Well intentioned Labour measures on the licensing and smoking laws have contributed to the closure of thousands of pubs and the dismissal of David Cameron as ‘a salesman’ said to the hundreds of thousands of people whose sales mean Britain has a private sector economy that Labour wasn’t the party for them.

On pensions, job security and flexible working, people in the private sector felt there was one rule for them and one for the ‘special’ people in the public sector.

Similarly many ‘core’ supporters now run their own businesses or work for small firms. The man who used to be the pit electrician will now rewire your house in a smart white van with his name on the side; two Chesterfield miners used their ‘redundo’ to set up a firm that refills laser printer toners. For Labour to be back in the box seat when it comes to winning elections, people like these must feel comfortable voting Labour again.

And of course the reality for many of the new working class is not that their reduced working conditions are compensated by higher salaries. Pubs and fast food restaurants, cafes and retail sector are often offering just minimum wage in exchange for your labours.

Partly Labour’s recovery is a question of acknowledgement and language, simply by valuing the contribution of, and acknowledging the issues facing private sector workers and the self employed we will start to break down barriers. But for them to really feel that they are a part of the modern Labour movement we must reflect their concerns in our policies as well as our language.

The exact direction our policies take in this area will of course be subject to debate in the party, and the needs of the differing people I have referred to will of course be aired. But actually acknowledging the tax burden on the lower paid, the insecurity of their pension and job prospects, and a commitment to a genuine fair contribution to society from the poorest to the wealthiest will enable Labour to reconnect with many of the people who we have lost. Labour does have a duty to stand up for the hard working majority that we speak about so often, understanding them and debating their issues would be a great start.

Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins joined TV presenter Gary Lineker and his wife Danielle Lineker to show support for the 1 GOAL campaign at the Houses of Parliament this week. Gary Lineker is an Ambassador for 1GOAL, an initiative which aims to mobilise support for education for all through the power of football.

During the World Cup Danielle Lineker joined 1 GOAL on an education trip to Khayleitsha, one of the fastest growing townships in South Africa, where opportunities for children are very limited.

The parliamentary event was held to highlight the global education crisis at this critical time. Next week in New York (20 – 22 September) world leaders will be meeting to review progress on the UN Millennium Goals; 2 of the 8 goals involve tackling poverty by ensuring that all boys and girls complete primary schooling by 2015.  With just 5 years to go there are still 72 million children who are being denied even a basic primary education.

The Global Campaign for Education, which organises 1GOAL, states that education is not only a human right but the fastest route out of poverty and says it is vital that the UK government must stand by its existing financial commitment of £1billion per year, until 2015, to support education internationally.

Chesterfield MP, Mr. Perkins said:-

“1 GOAL is a fantastic campaign set on improving the education of millions around the world. As a recognized face across the world of sport, Gary Lineker and the campaign team are doing a great job highlighting the lack of education for countless numbers of children in the poorest nations. As the 1995 Rugby World Cup showed us, sport is a unique way of improving the health and education of the developing world. 1 GOAL is just a start, but after meeting such an ambitious and passionate team it could become a hugely successful way of delivering education worldwide”.

Gary Lineker said:

“Delivering education for the 72 million children that are currently denied access to education is an achievable dream. We know that the world has the resources to deliver it. Now it’s time for world leaders to make it happen – for rich countries to deliver the funding needed, and for governments of developing countries to ensure that education is the top priority in their country.”

David Archer, International Board Member for the Global Campaign for Education said:

“This year 1 million pupils, in 9000 schools across the UK,  joined the Global Campaign for Education’s 1GOAL Send My Friend to School campaign, linked to the World Cup, which focused on getting every child in the world into school. Pupils and teachers understand the importance of this issue. The UK government has already committed to keep up overall spending on aid but we need them to become a real champion by recommitting to the target of £1 billion in aid to education each year and by calling on other world leaders to put their hands up for education at the UN Summit next week”.

The Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, Toby Perkins, last week lent his support to the campaign to help raise awareness about Atrial Fibrillation (AF), the most common heart rhythm disorder in the UK.

The campaign, spearheaded by the charity, the Atrial Fibrillation Association (AFA), aims to raise awareness of this debilitating condition and reach out to the public, parliamentarians and clinical experts.

At a meeting in Westminster, Chesterfield MP, Toby Perkins was briefed by the AFA about Atrial Fibrillation and had his picture taken with a ‘giant calculator’ which estimates that 1008 people here in the Chesterfield constituency’s electorate suffer from AF.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common heart rhythm disturbance encountered by doctors. Department of Health, 2007 figures, suggested AF affected in excess of 600,000 people in the UK. This is now considered to be an under estimate and that a more accurate figure may now be in excess of one million, with 200,000 patients being newly diagnosed each year. It is also thought to be responsible for 18% – 20% of all strokes suffered in the UK.

The risk of developing AF rises sharply with advancing age, roughly doubling with each decade of age, from 0.5% of people aged between 50-59 years visiting their GP, rising to almost 9% for those aged 80 to 89.

Simple pulse checks with GPs are a quick, and low cost way of detecting AF. That is why the AFA are today calling on people who are worried they might be suffering from AF to book a simple check up with their GP. The AFA are also calling for pulse checks to be made a routine procedure within the NHS Health Check programme and at seasonal flu vaccination clinics.

Chesterfield MP, Toby Perkins MP said:

“It is astonishing to think that an estimated 1008 people in Chesterfield’s electorate have Atrial Fibrillation, and the possibility that many more have it but as yet have not been diagnosed. It is important that this condition is understood by medical professionals and patients so that they can be identified at an early stage and treated accordingly.”

Trudie Lobban MBE, CEO and founder of the AFA said:

“We are delighted that Toby Perkins MP is supporting our campaign to raise awareness of Atrial Fibrillation, both in Westminster and in the wider context. This is a little-known condition, yet estimates suggest that AF exerts a considerable economic toll on the NHS. For example, patients with primary or secondary diagnosis of AF accounted for an estimated 5.7 million bed days in 2008, at a cost to the NHS of £1.8 billion.”

Furious residents on Ashover Road have raised a 100 strong petition to present to Chesterfield Borough Council expressing their concerns about the new children’s play area opposite dozens of homes. Chesterfield Member of Parliament, Toby Perkins, met with concerned residents, including many senior citizens, and will be presenting the petition calling for tougher policing and an end to anti social and damage to property.

Since the building of the Ashover Road children’s play area several homes and cars along Ashover Road and Froggatt Close have been vandalized. Residents have been threatened when walking their pets at night, and calls to the police from this area of Inkersall have multiplied. The petition was handed to Mr. Perkins at a meeting of local residents, who explained to their MP the dangers brought to the area by the play area. Mr. Perkins and the campaigners have called for CCTV and lighting facilities at the park.

Chesterfield MP, Mr. Perkins said:-

The long list of signatures on the petition shows the concern of local people about the play area on Ashover Road and the anti social behavior of many of those who come to that area, especially after dark. Many elderly residents have told me they feel ‘under siege’ by youngsters damaging property and drinking heavily. The Council must do more to ensure that play areas do not become hotspots for thugs and vandals”.

Mr. Galligan, who started the 100 strong petition, added:-

“This play area has caused deep concern to the residents of Ashover Road. We have had to put up with anti social behavior and damage to our properties, not to mention the activities of some of the youngsters after dark”

Message posted on this website by Lib Dem Councillor, Mick Bagshaw

Mr Perkins,
Can I say how disappointed to see such negative comments that has done nothing but down cry Inkersall and the majority of its residents. A lot of hard work has gone into this scheme, including your own party members such as Shirley flint. I think you owe it to her at least, but certainly to the majority of residents and the Multi Agency Team to apologise for such harmful comment.

Response by Toby Perkins MP

I will never apologise for standing up for law abiding residents who have been victims of intimidation and criminal damage along both Ashover Road and Froggatt Close. Dozens of people living along those roads have contacted me through a petition to highlight the new and exacerbated problems they face on a daily basis due to a troublesome minority using their street as a thoroughfare. I agree with you that the park is a great asset to Inkersall during the day, but more safety measures are needed to ensure that it isn’t mis-used in the evenings and weekends. CCTV would be hugely beneficial, as would moving the entrance further down Inkersall Green Road.

I will let the 100 residents who signed a petition calling for more security know that you think they are wrong to ask for this. This is not a party issue. This is about ensuring that the park is a place where parents, children and teenagers can go to have fun and where residents can live without fear for themselves or their property. I would like to congratulate those responsible for the development. I would, however, be failing as the Member of Parliament for Chesterfield if I did not raise the concerns of so many Inkersall people who feel that not enough has been done to balance the admirable intentions of child play provision with public safety.

Workers and residents around a Chesterfield skate park who claim to be “under siege” have appealed to Chesterfield Borough Council to complete the project in a bid to stop a barrage of verbal and physical violence.  Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, Toby Perkins, has joined campaigners in requesting that the council stumps up the much needed investment to complete the facility after the developers went into liquidation.

The skate park project, including plans for flood lights was a flagship project for young people in Chesterfield. However, the firm went broke and the site remains only partly complete, and has become a hotspot for yobs who have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to local businesses and threatened staff. Chesterfield MP, Mr. Perkins met with Sergeant Paul Carrington of Derbyshire Constabulary and the store manager of B&Q, Keely Townsend, to discuss the troublesome haven for drinking and drugs. Mr. Perkins also met 8 young skateboard enthusiasts to hear their views.

After the meeting with police and B&Q Store manager at the site Mr. Perkins said:

Chesterfield MP, Mr. Perkins said after the meeting:-

Everyone wants to see quality youth facilities, but this site design has failed to consider public safety. The site needs lighting and CCTV, it also needs draining. It is currently creating a lot of work for police and is a danger to staff and businesses. I have spoken with some of the youngsters who use the park and they realize that it will be closed if it can’t be kept open safely. I will be speaking to the council urgently to see how this unacceptable situation can be improved”.

Sergeant Carrington added:-

“We are doing everything we can to ensure the skate part is kept safe for the youngsters who genuinely want to use it for its designated purpose and members of the public.

We are working with local business owners to ensure our patrols are carried out when they are most needed to prevent any anti-social behaviour taking place and ensure anyone misusing it is dealt with appropriately and swiftly.

We are happy to work with the local MP to highlight the need for better lighting and CCTV in the area to help us police it more effectively and to make it a fantastic facility for the young people.

If anyone has any problems relating to anti-social behaviour on the skate park call your local Safer Neighborhood Team on 0345 123 3333.”

Chesterfield MP, Toby Perkins experienced first-hand the results of over £2.7 million in good cause funding from the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) since 2007 when he visited two projects benefitting local people.

Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East Midlands, Mick McGrath, accompanied Toby Perkins MP on the visit to see two groups in his constituency: Chesterfield Citizen’s Advice Bureau’s Financial Exclusion Project and Chesterfield Fairplay.

At Chesterfield Citizen’s Advice Bureau the MP met workers from the Financial Exclusion Project to hear first-hand the difference they are making in Chesterfield for local people who struggle with budgeting, accessing basic bank accounts and help them to make more informed financial decisions.

The project received a Big Lottery Fund grant of £176,051 in 2008 from the Reaching Communities programme and includes basic budgeting skills, increasing understanding credit, safe systems of lending and saving and managing the financial impact of utility costs.

Fairplay’s project delivers regular clubs for disabled young people in Chesterfield and Derbyshire. The project received £337,261 earlier this year, also from BIG’s Reaching Communities programme, to provide the clubs for young people with physical, sensory, learning and behavioural difficulties where they can enjoy activities together including arts, music, cooking, sports and computing classes.

During the visit the MP could see the impact the project was having over lunch, as the young people made their meals in the training kitchen and was able to witness the fun and safe learning environment that the project provides.

Mick McGrath, Big Lottery Fund Head of Region for the East Midlands, said:

“In the current economic climate it is more important than ever that people can access the advice and support they need and these projects are providing a vital service for the people they help. BIG is pleased to be able to fund these and the many more projects that we support across the Chesterfield for the benefit of local communities.”

Toby Perkins MP, said:

 “It was great to visit two projects funded by The Big Lottery Fund in my constituency and to see the facilities which may not exist if it wasn’t for this investment”.